If Triggered, Fresh Wind Slabs Could Result in Large Avalanches

HAILEY, Idaho (KLIX) – If you’re planning a trip into the backcountry this weekend, be mindful of fresh wind slabs, which, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center, could cause some big problems.

The center said in an advisory on Friday that “weak, sugary snow buried months ago can still be found 3-5 feet below the snow surface.”

While the chances of triggering such an avalanche is “unlikely,” the center said, it is not “impossible” in the Sawtooths, Smoky and Boulder mountains, but if it were to happen “the resulting avalanche would be very large” and likely erase the chances of survival.